Consumer excess, polluted seas, vanishing species... these are today's headlines. Yet "measure," "balance," and "waste" are very old concepts in the Qur'an. In this piece let us first listen to the text as it stands; then keep the lessons we draw from it apart, marked as "(interpretation)." The aim is not to press a verdict but to invite a calm reading.
What does the Qur'an say?
۞ يَـٰبَنِىٓ ءَادَمَ خُذُوا۟ زِينَتَكُمْ عِندَ كُلِّ مَسْجِدٍ وَكُلُوا۟ وَٱشْرَبُوا۟ وَلَا تُسْرِفُوٓا۟ ۚ إِنَّهُۥ لَا يُحِبُّ ٱلْمُسْرِفِينَ
"O Children of Adam! Take your adornment at every place of prostration, and eat and drink, but do not be wasteful. Indeed, He does not love the wasteful." — al-A'raf 7:31
وَٱلسَّمَآءَ رَفَعَهَا وَوَضَعَ ٱلْمِيزَانَ
أَلَّا تَطْغَوْا۟ فِى ٱلْمِيزَانِ
وَأَقِيمُوا۟ ٱلْوَزْنَ بِٱلْقِسْطِ وَلَا تُخْسِرُوا۟ ٱلْمِيزَانَ
"He raised the sky and set the balance, so that you would not transgress in the balance. ... Maintain the weighing with justice and do not give short measure!" — al-Rahman 55:7-9
ظَهَرَ ٱلْفَسَادُ فِى ٱلْبَرِّ وَٱلْبَحْرِ بِمَا كَسَبَتْ أَيْدِى ٱلنَّاسِ لِيُذِيقَهُم بَعْضَ ٱلَّذِى عَمِلُوا۟ لَعَلَّهُمْ يَرْجِعُونَ
"Corruption has appeared on land and sea because of what people's hands have earned, so that He may make them taste a part of what they have done, that they might return." — al-Rum 30:41
وَمَا مِن دَآبَّةٍ فِى ٱلْأَرْضِ وَلَا طَـٰٓئِرٍ يَطِيرُ بِجَنَاحَيْهِ إِلَّآ أُمَمٌ أَمْثَالُكُم ۚ مَّا فَرَّطْنَا فِى ٱلْكِتَـٰبِ مِن شَىْءٍ ۚ ثُمَّ إِلَىٰ رَبِّهِمْ يُحْشَرُونَ
"There is no creature that walks on the earth, nor a bird that flies with its two wings, but they are communities like you. We have not neglected anything in the Book. Then to their Lord they will be gathered." — al-An'am 6:38
What do we learn?
(interpretation) Read together, these verses trace four lines:
- Wastefulness is not approved. 7:31 does not forbid eating and drinking; it dislikes excess and extravagance. "He does not love the wasteful" frames consumption as a moral matter.
- A balance is set into the cosmos. In 55:7-9 the sky is mentioned alongside a "mizan" (balance/measure); the human is asked not to disturb it and to weigh with justice. (interpretation) This "mizan" can be read broadly: honest scales in trade and measure in nature alike.
- A critique of "corruption" (fasad). 30:41 says the spoiling that appears on land and sea is because of "what people's hands have earned." (interpretation) The verse itself does not name a particular ecological disaster, yet it clearly establishes the principle that human action can corrupt the earth.
- Respect for living beings. 6:38 calls birds and the creatures of the earth "communities (umam) like you." (interpretation) This invites us to see other species not merely as resources but as communities with their own existence.
Differing readings
(interpretation) Some readings understand these verses chiefly along the line of personal ethics (avoiding extravagance and cheating in trade). Others read "mizan" and "fasad" within a wider horizon of nature and justice, as principles opening onto contemporary environmental awareness. Both readings can rest on the wording; we do not impose a choice between them.
An honest boundary
What the text states firmly: wastefulness is not approved (7:31); a balance has been set and weighing must be just (55:7-9); the human hand can lead to corruption (30:41); and creatures are named as "communities" (6:38). What remains debatable as (interpretation): presenting these verses as the exact equivalent of a particular climate policy or modern ecological program. The verses give principles; building today's application belongs to human reason and ijtihad. We should not confuse what the verse says with what we infer from it.
Conclusion: Without forbidding eating and drinking, the Qur'an dislikes waste; it places a balance in the cosmos and asks the human to preserve it; it criticizes ruin and counts other living beings as communities like us. This framework can be read as a calm call both to personal moderation and to a responsible stance toward the earth.
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Source: Qur'anic verses (M. Okuyan meal). Presented with a text/interpretation distinction; not a fiqh fatwa.